Personal computers (PCs) serve a multitude of software applications, features and functions. The applications provide the user with tools to accomplish tasks, such as (but not limited to) document processing, spreadsheet management, email exchanges and Internet browsing. The features and functions are commonly referred to as the “personalized information” and may comprise favorite Internet websites, contacts, Internet cookies, digital signatures, background images, desktop icons, application control bars, choice of default values and other configurable settings. In general, the personalized information differs from one user to another.
Typically, software applications are installed and setup using an automated installation process. The installation process is designed to enable the integration of the new functionality into its overall organization by the operating system (OS), as well as ensuring that the application can be safely removed. Still, as installation process is mostly carried-out by automatic installation programs, installation and setup of software applications remain a tedious task requiring as much as hours of work.
Generally, an automatic installation program performs the following activities: a) copying application software files from a removable storage (e.g., a compact disk) to the destination computer; b) configuring the operating system's parameters by, for example, the configuration of the system registry files; c) creating the application icons; and d) deleting temporary installation files.
Normally, software applications are executed exclusively within the environment in which they were actually installed. Specifically, a software application ought to be installed on each computer that runs the application. As a result, a user cannot switch between computers and work with his common applications without installing and registering those applications on each computer. Moreover, the user has to configure the personalized information when switching between computers.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable for a user to have a portable memory device that comprises one or more common applications and the corresponding personalized information. Such a portable memory device would allow the user to run his common applications and uploading its personalized information just by plugging the device to any computer.